Song the Week: Head Creeps

One great think about doing my Top 100 list is rediscovering some albums that I used to listen to a lot and haven’t given a good spin in a long time. A great example of this is Alice in Chains final album with the late Layne Staley. I always felt that the self titled record was highly underrated. It’s probably their darkest record and the hardest one to digest, but there is such a wealth of content on it. One of my favorite tracks off the album is “Head Creeps”. That sludgy riffs and Layne’s haunting and tortured vocals add such a thick atmosphere to the song and the catchy chorus doesn’t let the claustrophobic air overburden the tune.

This song is quite a deep look into the mind of a junkie and Layne Staley. At the point in which AIC wrote the album he was pretty far along into his heroin and hard drug addiction and “Head Creeps” is an attack on the things that Layne thought were against him such as the media publicizing his addiction. Also in his paranoia he writes off those that were also trying to help him. He has given up hope that he will overcome his demons and just wants to enjoy his high and leave his body in peace. It’s a very tragic song and situation, but an emotional and important look into someone, which in turn may help you understand how a heroin addled junkie’s mind works. It could also be Layne’s way of warning others the hell of addiction. If you know anyone stuck on hard drugs, don’t look down on them, do what is in your power to help them, even if they don’t want it, deep down inside, they do. Peace Love and Metal!!!